If you fertilize with a fertilizer that relies on urea or any other organic source of nitrogen (blood meal, feather meal, hoof/horn meal, alfalfa meal, boiled rice hulls, etc) there is a considerable risk of ammonium toxicity if soil temps are below 55-60*F or will be below 55* at some point in the near future. Immediately after nutrients are absorbed they are deposited in plant cells. If the nitrogen is in nitrate form, this is not a problem for plants; however, if nitrifying soil bacteria are inactive due to low temps, they are unable to convert ammoniacal nitrogen to nitrate. This causes ammonium to accumulate in plant cells with a high potential to damage the cells (at temps below 55-60*F). If you do fertilize, using Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 wouldn't be much of an issue because it supplies >2/3 of its nitrogen in nitrate form; however, most other 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers (like 24-8-16 and 12-4-8) rely completely on urea as their source of nitrogen and they would very likely create toxicity issues. Hobby growers almost always misdiagnose ammonium toxicity and attribute its symptoms to unrelated causes. In addition to being a frequent problem when grow media are below 55-60*F, the toxicity is also extremely common in waterlogged media or in plantings with compacted grow medium and/or when roots are congested; this due to the paucity of oxygen and high levels of CO2 in waterlogged or compacted media. BTW, if you will be keeping the chives in a pot, you should divide them every year, taking one or two divisions from the perimeter of the clump - not from the middle. The planting will need fertilizing if you keep it in a pot, but probably won't need fertilizing if planted out. Every plant needs a full compliment of nutrients essential to normal growth to be at it's best, and the only way to tell if your garden/ beds need supplemental nutrition is by way of a soil test. Al

I think your grass will be fine, just give it time. I live just south of you and my grass looks short also, but I think it's the constant running over it with the tractor to mulch leaves. I go with the NCSU recommendations in the link below and give the grass a full range chem fertilizer in mid-Feb. While the grass is dormant now, the roots wili still absorb the fert feeding. Here is a link that might be useful: NCSU Turffiles

Did the same as you have last year. I only winterized my lawn and all was well this past spring. I treated the patches as if they were not there.

Thanks everyone! Linda - thanks so much for your suggestions! As for Peaches and Green - when the "suckers" in the center get bigger, do I divide them without roots? It seems that they wouldn't have roots like a regular sucker or baby plant. I definitely think that the PH is an issue. After a conversation with a friend who is a grower (not AV's) he suggested that the chloramine might be affecting the Ph, and that could be the underlining problem of a lot of things. After searching this forum, a lot of people suggest the same - that many problems clear up when the Ph is consistent and the plants get flushed semi-regularly. I flushed my plants with warm water, and they seem to be perkier now. Good start. I'm going to go get some sulfur for the mildew/blight (it could be either or both), and some bottled water and testing strips. For now, I'll water with Poland Springs, and with testing, some vinegar and baking soda, etc..., I'll start using my water again when I figure it out. Or perhaps I'll just stick to bottled water, since I don't have a huge collection. IDK - it's tough to say which one is more expensive or more of a pain. I don't think I should treat the plants. Not inside in the winter. Not with chemicals. I'm disbudding and waiting. I'll keep them disbudded for a while, and in the spring I'll treat them when I can take them outside. I threw out the 3 plants (Noid's) that had more than the others, took cuttings of some of the more "important" plants, and I have to continue and finish up this weekend. Obviously, I am learning the all important lesson about ISOLATION!!! lol It just sucks not having any flowers. That's kind of the point of these plants! Ruffles and Lace is totally stunted. I think I may have to take it totally down to the crown and try to re-root it. Perhaps the leaf to root ratio is way off now. That would make sense. I believe my Tommi Lou is perking up, could do well still. I'd like to take cuttings of LE Adagio and Sagitarius Elite, but the leaves are so unhealthy, I'd be taking down the plant, and I have no idea if the leaves will take. The plants are small, so there's not a lot of selection of leaves. These are starters that haven't done well, so I don't think the yellowing is "natural". Any suggestions? Should I take a couple of leaves and toss the plants? Probably.... I'm posting some pictures of the problems I'm having. I'm think overfertilizing with bad fertilizer (MG), but I'll be switching to the Optimara packets I have. they should last me a while. I think I have 4 or 5 packets. I have some fish emulsion, so thank you for the advice about the variegateds! I think the ph or chloramine (or both) is really an issue. I saw someone (Korina I think ) sign off as an "expert plant murderer". I am totally comforted. In 6 months, I've killed so many, and now I watch them suffer. But, there's nothing like a good hobby! I am hooked. I would order a hundred more if I could! I'm sure I will when I manage to kill these ones.... lol! My new batch from Rob's look so lovely! It was sad to trim the new buds forming. Vanilla Trail, Gundaroo, and Warm Sunshine all had several buds forming. But, alas, I want no more thrips!!! Thanks again, everyone!!! So good to get to know people! Jessica